LEWISTON — Residents of mobile home parks who rent the lots beneath their homes will have 180 days of reprieve from rent increases due to a temporary ordinance passed by the City Council on Tuesday.

The ordinance, set to go into effect 30 days from Tuesday, will protect lot renters while the city reviews the issue and considers whether a rent stabilization ordinance would benefit residents.

The moratorium applies to mobile home parks with three or more homes, freezing total monthly lot rent including mandatory fixed charges such as road maintenance and recreation fees. 

The decision mirrors a similar move by Auburn in January, when councilors approved a 180-day moratorium after residents there described steep hikes and fears of displacement. Auburn councilors said the freeze gives the city time to determine if a long-term stabilization ordinance is necessary.

Lewiston City Council President David Chittim of Ward 6 said councilors received letters from concerned residents and from those in mobile home park management and ownership.

“We certainly want to protect the people who are subject to rent increases, but we also want to ensure that the owners of the mobile home parks have sufficient resources so they can operate them properly,” Chittim said.

Several of Lewiston’s mobile home park residents voiced their support for a moratorium, many claiming rents have risen sharply while maintenance and services have lagged and rent requirements unfairly burden renters. 

A resident of Fox Run Mobile Home Park supported the moratorium, citing ineffective state law as the reason why mobile home park owners continue to increase rents.

“If you look at (the state law) … you may come to the same conclusion that I did, that it was drafted by lobbyists … because it has absolutely no teeth,” John Geary said. “Worse than that, it establishes this vague notion of average lot rent and it allows the owners of the parks to determine what that average is.”

Geary said while park ownership is a business and something has to ensure those businesses make money, what renters want to see is an established base rent.

Julie Ann Smith, executive director of the Manufactured Housing Association of Maine, told councilors a moratorium would impact local ownership and businesses that support and serve local mobile home parks. 

“A blanket moratorium would not distinguish between a large national operator and a Lewiston-based small business owner,” Smith said. “It would apply equally to both, but the financial impact would not be equal. Small, locally owned parks operate on narrow margins … (and) increases are real and immediate.”

Smith said if revenue is artificially frozen while operating costs go up, it’s the smallest owners who are affected first and, thus, the local economy. 

Adam Krans, assistant regional manager of BoaVida Communities, said his company, which owns Fox Run Mobile Home Park, Country Lane Estates and Stetson Brook Estates, has several projects in the works that could be affected if the need for rent increases cannot be managed. 

A Stetson Brook Estates expansion of about 50 new home sites and a road repair project at Country Lane Estates may need to be put on hold or significantly reduced if a moratorium were put into place, he said. 

“Projects like that require upfront capital and financial certainty. A moratorium would immediately delay that development for the duration of that ordinance and likely longer, ” Krans said.

“Roads deteriorate, water and sewer systems require repair and maintenance, snow must be plowed, trees trimmed. Insurance, labor, materials and regulatory costs continue to rise whether rents change or not. When revenue is frozen while expenses increase, hard decisions about spending must be made,” he said.

Councilors voted 6-1 to approve the moratorium; Michael Roy of Ward 4 dissented. The matter will go before the city’s housing committee, which will work with the city’s planning and code enforcement staff to develop recommendations for possible action when the moratorium lapses.